As a
Christian when it comes to understanding Christianity, why am I so
confused? For those that are ready to begin
chanting mystical slogans, praying for me and reciting
cute clichés please don’t. You must
realize I did not say the Word of God
was confusing, with proper study habits, I find the Bible relatively easy to
understand. To reiterate it is the
practice of Christianity in todays society that confuses me. To some
the confusion began in the ancient days in the church, when we were
placed on a bench at the front of the church called the Mourners Bench. The Deacon’s would pray, lead songs and the
preacher would preach, the candidates for religion would sit there until
they felt the spirit of God. Many today admitted that they did not feel
anything, they just got tired of sitting there and got up and gave the preacher
their hand. To me it was a personal
thing, one that I never talk about, but deep inside I often wondered what was
it that made me get up and give the preacher my hand. When my older prolific brother who was
blessed with the gift of gab was asked, he
could arouse the crowd by quoting Jeremiah 20:9 Then I said, I will not make mention of him,
nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning
fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not
stay.
Billy Graham redefined the concept of
getting religion, all was required was
to come forward, stand before the Alter and say a short prayer. Others have refined it and all was required
was to say a short prayer where ever you were. The pentecostal s demanded a more hands on
approach, you were required to come to a place designated as the Altar and you
were to tarry until the Holy Ghost came.
While you tarried the church would sing dance and prayer around
you. The supportive scripture was Luke
24:49 And, behold, I send the promise of
my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued
with power from on high. Acts 2:1-6 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come,
they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound
from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they
were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and
it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and
began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there
were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were
confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. One group of Christians hold with a phenomenon
known as, Speaking in tongues” and another group says it is senseless babbling. At
this juncture things began to get a little confusing.
A few years ago I and several others
started an Internet Bible Study Network, our mission is to search for a deeper
understanding of God’s word.
Acknowledging the confusion that surrounded the interpretation of the
scripture, we sought to find a deeper understanding of the Bible. To understand the Bible as with any book questions must be asked and answers must be
given. The first question framed was
what is the Bible? The indoctrinated Bible
student responded, “the Bible is the Word of God.” To understand a conversation within the proper
context we must know who is talking and who is spoken to. Using that concept, Geneses 3:1-5 is a
conversation between the Devil and Eve.
The Bible would be better defined as, a historical account of the creative
works of God and his interaction with man.
When God spoke to Abraham who was
he speaking to? Yet many try to live by the words God spoke to Abraham. Some
will say if he did it for Abraham he will do it for us, or that we are heir to
the promises made to Abraham. Christians
further confuse the issue by claiming the promises God made to the
Children of Isreal.
A good analogy as to pertaining to
understanding the Word of God can be as that of making the wrong turn while
traveling to an unknown destination.
Every decision made based upon that wrong turn is at fault and leads us
further from our destination or further
into a state of confusion until we do as
Jesus said in his message to the churches.
Revelation 2:5 Remember therefore
from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will
come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place,
except thou repent. Traveling without
light is equivalent to the blind leading the blind. Matthew 15:14
Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind
lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
The Holy Scriptures are not
a systematic treatise on Theology, History, Science or any other topic. They
are a REVELATION from God of His Plan and Purpose in the Ages as to the earth
and the human race. They were given to us piecemeal "at sundry times and
in divers manners." Heb 1:1. Holy men of God spake as they were moved by
the Holy Spirit during a period of 1604 years, extending from B. C. 1492 to A.
D. 100. The Bible consists of 66 separate books; 39 in the Old Testament, and
27 in the New. These books were written by about 40 different authors. By
kings, such as David and Solomon; statesmen, as Daniel and Nehemiah; priests,
as Ezra; men learned in the wisdom of Egypt as Moses; men learned in Jewish
law, as Paul. By a herdsman, Amos; a tax-gatherer, Matthew; fishermen, as
Peter, James and John, who were "unlearned and ignorant" men; a
physician, Luke; and such mighty "seers" as Isaiah, Ezekiel and
Zechariah.
It is not an Asiatic book
though it was written in that part of the world. Its pages were penned in the
Wilderness of Sinai, the cliffs of Arabia, the hills and towns of Palestine,
the courts of the Temple, the schools of the prophets at Bethel and Jericho, in
the palace of Shushan in Persia, on the banks of the river Chebar in Babylonia,
in the dungeons of Rome, and on the lonely Isle of Patmos in the Aegean Sea.
While the Bible has been
compiled in the manner described, it is not a "heterogeneous jumble"
of ancient history, myths, legends, religious speculations and apocalyptic
literature. There is a progress of revelation and doctrine in it. The judges
knew more than the Patriarchs, the Prophets than the judges, the Apostles than
the Prophets. The Old and New Testaments cannot be separated, yet they cannot
be mixed together to form a hydrogenated gospel. You cannot understand Leviticus without
Hebrews, or Daniel without Revelation.
While the Bible is a
"Revelation from GOD" it is not written in a superhuman or celestial
language. If it were we could not understand it. Its supernatural origin is
seen in the fact that it can be translated into any language. The language of
the Scriptures is of three kinds. Figurative, Symbolical and Literal. The
Figurative is explained by the context, the Symbolical either in the context or
somewhere else in the Scriptures, and the rest should be taken literally. That
is, we are to read the Bible as we would read any other book, letting it say
what it wants to say, without allegorizing or spiritualizing its meaning.
While the Bible was written
FOR all classes of people, and FOR our learning, it is not addressed to all
people in general. Part of it is addressed to the JEWS, part to the GENTILES,
and part to the CHURCH. These three constitute the "Three Classes"
into which humanity is divided. 1Co 10:32. It follows therefore that while the
whole Bible was written for the instruction of the Church, it is not all
written about the Church. The Church is not mentioned in the Old Testament. The
Old Testament is mostly taken up with the history of one nation, that of
Israel. When we take the Old Testament promises and apply them to the Church we
rob the Jew of that which is exclusively his. For illustration, the prophecy of
Isaiah in the chapter headings is largely applied to the Church, whereas the
very first verse declares that it is--"concerning JUDAH and
JERUSALEM." Isa 1:1. In the New Testament the Epistles of Hebrews and
James are Jewish. The Epistle of James is addressed, not to the Church, but to
the "TWELVE TRIBES scattered abroad." Jas 1:1. In the Epistle to the
Hebrews many Christians stumble at the words "fall away" (Heb 6:4-6),
and "if we sin willfully," Heb 10:26. But these words do not apply to
Christians. They were spoken to apostate Jewish professors of Christianity who
had never been born again, and who, if they did not accept Jesus as their
Messiah, practically crucified Him again, and were as bad as their brethren who
did crucify Him.
ALL Scripture is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction, (2Ti 3:16), and
what happened to Israel was written for our ENSAMPLE and ADMONITION, (1Co
10:11), but we must not apply to the Church what does not belong to it. To do
so is to misapply Scripture and lead to confusion.
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